Time Alone
by NintendoGal55
Summary: A side companion...midquel of Azure129's fanfic "Tutoring Arnold", an interpretative look at what happened before their first date at Slausen's. *Was very edited*


**Well peeps, I was suddenly hit with MASSIVE inspiration to write this little companion fic two-shot based off the second epilogue of "Tutoring Arnold" by Azure129. I freaking LOVE that fic! :D It was an awesome read, and I was quite hooked. **

**Plus the epilogues were so fun. OwO Especially the first one...hee hee hee...**

**This story takes place during the second epilogue, Part One here will have a sequence of Arnold telling Helga about his dreams he'd had of her, Helga admitting to Arnold about her textbook shrine and their little kiss. Part two will be their little date at Slausen's, and then, him walking her home afterward. :D**

**XD And I just had to give Helga crazy reactions to his dreams...it was too funny to pass up. **

**You know, the fic was SO WELL DONE, I could practically see that situation happening "for real" on the series. Seriously. She portrays them so well and so awesomely falling in love and being in love...aaahhh!!!!! SQUEE! I don't know how! Her other fic "Helga Pataki's Christmas" brings me to tears every time I read it, too. **

**So if you haven't read her stuff yet, GO DO IT NAO! You will NOT regret it, I promise.**

**Azure129, or Jenna, your fic "Tutoring Arnold" is awesome. Not that I haven't already said that. XD I really wanted to write this for you in tribute to it, and I hope I captured it all right. I could never write as good as you, but I guess I can try to capture it as best as I can. **

**If of course, seeing this here bothers you, and you want me to remove it, then I will. **

**So, thank you so much, and I do hope you will enjoy it. :) If not, it's okay, I won't hold it against you.**

**Characters belong to Craig Bartlett**

**Fanfiction inspiration itself belongs to Azure129**

**--**

"So...you've been dreaming about me?" Helga repeated with a smirk. She figured he knew by now that she was referring to his poem.

The blush that was marring his face had already deepened considerably, not quite sure how to answer to that. He had just about blatantly stated in his poem about her that he did have dreams about her. More than one, on top of that. He still remembered them even today. The dream he had about him visiting Arnie and meeting antithesis versions of all his friends...including Helga and Lila. Then the dream he had of them being married. And, most recently, the dream he'd had about her after their first tutoring session, the big mixing up of Ruth, Lila, and Helga, apparently all three girls he'd ever "really" liked, despite that Ruth barely even counted since his crush on her had been based solely on looks and lost interest soon after seeing how she truly was on the inside. Still, it was an intense crush that lasted some time, which went-somewhat-alongside his crush on Lila.

The only difference was that Arnold DID like Lila as a person as well as her being pretty. She was pretty much what he (or so he thought) and every other boy wanted, someone sweet, pretty, popular, outgoing, and easy as can be. But of course, the one-sided romantic feelings between them really didn't help matters at all. Try and try as he might when things were going well, only to be shot down again, it just never worked. As he soon came to terms with the fact that he no longer crushed on her, which he found had diminished without him really knowing it or thinking of it at first. It all came to a head within the madness of the weekend Helga tutored him and their classmates in poetry. Nowadays, he simply just liked her as a friend and was fine with that. No hard feelings, all was well.

And now this. Helga. He still couldn't believe, though he now accepted it more than graciously, that he had actually fallen in love with the least likely girl.

Life was sure full of surprises. BIG TIME.

"Um, Arnold? Arnold? Yoohoo, earth to the football head! Come in!" Helga's voice rang out, tapping her fist gently against his head. "Hellooooooo?"

"Huh?" Arnold blinked his green eyes for a moment, having been so lost in thought that he was startled by Helga suddenly bringing him back to reality. "Oh, oh. Sorry, Helga. I drifted off there.... Um, so, what were you saying?"

Helga rolled her eyes and sat down next to him on his bed, placing the math book she had brought with her aside on the bed behind her, and stared at him.

"I was SAYING, Arnoldo, or rather, ASKING, about the fact that you were having dreams about me." Her smirk returned and she leaned close to him, her arms crossed. "So, spill it. You've been having dreams about little ol' me?"

Arnold blushed again, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um...well...I...m-more or less..."

"Come on now, football head, I think I can handle dreams like that." Helga reminded him, and her smirk widened. "I love you, anyway. And you love me too, so what's the problem?"

"Well...um..." Arnold began, and took a breath. "Do you really want to know? I mean, they're not that exciting or anything."

Helga made a "tch" sound and rolled her eyes again. "Like I even CARE about that, Arnold. The fact you've dreamed about ME says a lot, you know. So come on, tell me. Let's hear those dreamy dreams of yours. Come and tell ol' Helga G. Pataki, your _girlfriend_, I might say...yeah, feels good to say that... what you've been dreaming of." She wiggled her brow mischievously.

Girlfriend, now that was pretty new to him. She had just openly referred to herself as his girlfriend. Well, what was so surprising about that? They were in love, or at least, SHE was in love, he was FALLING in love, and technically dating, right? So of course she was his girlfriend, and he was her boyfriend. Plain and simple, right?

Maybe it was just never explicitly said. They were just together and in love, and took the natural way of that, after this whole fiasco cleared over and feelings had been come to terms with.

Still, Arnold did smile a little at this. He'd never had a girlfriend, though unless you counted Lila, which barely counted since it was one-sided, both when she liked him and he liked her. It was interesting now to have a girl he could call his girlfriend, heck, it was interesting in itself that he could call HELGA his girlfriend.

Yeah...girlfriend. He could get used to saying that.

"Well, okay, you're right." Arnold conceded. "I guess I'll start in chronological order, then. The first dream I had about you, was one I had that I was visiting my cousin Arnie in the countryside. It happened that day I came to Gerald Field and was telling you guys that I couldn't play that day since I was going to visit Arnie for the weekend."

"Ohhhhhh, right. We were short on short stop because of it." Helga said with a scowl, but then shrugged a little. She could also remember the day after, when he'd shown up in his pajamas and had hugged her for no reason. "...Say, speaking of which, is that why you came to Gerald Field the next morning, and acting all weird and stuff, dressed in your pajamas? Heh heh...those little bear pajamas! HA! Never took you for such a kid, Arnold."

"But I AM a kid!" Arnold protested. Still, he smiled at her humour.

"I know THAT, football head. But anyway, you mind explaining all that? And also when you, ya know..." Her smirk returned. "Just came and hugged me for no reason? I mean really, come on, you acted like you....Heaven Forbid, _missed_ me or something!"

Arnold blushed a bit at the memory of the third time he had hugged Helga. Yes, he did have a habit of doing so when she did something he liked, but that time just still made no sense to him. Looking back, he still had no logical explanation for it. It just seemed like the right thing to do...though he didn't know why that was.

"Actually Helga, I honestly can't explain it." Arnold admitted. "I don't know...after the dream I had, it just seemed like the right thing to do or something. I guess it was on instinct or something, I couldn't say."

Helga stared at him weirdly, surprised at how Arnold of all people who always had the answers...except about their love, was actually clueless. And yet, she could see why. He was as dense as ever, especially back then. At the same time, she did understand.

"Well, I guess I see why. Well! Looks like we got a mystery on our hands. Now, would you mind telling me that dream?"

"Oh, right. I got off track. Anyway, so I arrived and met Arnie on the road where the bus dropped me off. Nothing exciting there, we just eventually got back to his house where his girlfriend in the dream was waiting. Her name was Lulu, and she looked and sounded like Lila. She dressed like her...well kind of, and she didn't act like Lila, either."

"What do you mean?" Helga was both intrigued, curious, and also feeling a tinge of jealousy.

"She was...well, the opposite of who she was in real life. She acted really forward and affectionate to a point that I was really uncomfortable. After all, she was Arnie's girlfriend, and even though she was like Lila, it just didn't seem right at all." Arnold went on, shuddering at the memory.

"Ohhhhh." Helga nodded in understanding. "Well that's crazy! YOU, not liking LILA? Okay, not Lila, but like her twin or something? HA! That's just golden! So was that why you were backing away from Lila and you asked her if she liked you liked you or just liked you back in Gerald Field?"

"Yeah." Arnold admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I wasn't quite over the dream and I was expecting another Lulu attack."

"Ah." Helga gave a smirk, remembering how secretly triumphant and yet totally confused back then when she saw Arnold backing away from Lila as if he were scared of her. "Well, that explains a lot! I think I see where you're going with this. Anyhow, move it along."

"Right. So Lulu and Arnie were showing me around, and we eventually came to the swimming hole." Arnold cringed then, remembering her offer for an oh-too private swim. He wasn't sure why, but the idea made him REALLY uncomfortable in every way. He decided to leave that part out for now. "And we met..." His discomfort melted and he snickered.

"Met...?" Helga prompted him.

"Stumpy and Fifi, who were the...opposites of Stinky and Phoebe."

"So you're saying Stinky was a dandy nerd, and Phoebe was...well, ya know, dumb as a doorknob?"

"Pretty much." Arnold snickered again. "Then later we're in this store, and Lulu asked me to get up on a step ladder to get some apple butter from a higher shelf. Then she tickled me, and I told her to stop."

"Wow. Your subconscious sure was crazy!"

"I guess so." Arnold agreed all too much with that. "We even met Gerard and Kid, who were the opposites of Gerald and Sid...yeah, no explanation needed there. Then later in the evening the three of us went to see Evil Twin 3 at the movie theater. We went inside, and Arnie went to go get gum-"

"Let me guess, plain-flavoured gum?" Helga cut in, though it was more of a statement than question.

Arnold laughed a little. "Yep, plain-flavoured gum. Anyway, then Lulu pulled me aside and tried to....well, kiss me. She didn't though, I pushed her away and tried to tell her off about it."

"Whoa! You refusing a kiss from the Lila look-alike?!" Helga uttered in surprise, and laughed. "Wow! I don't know about you, but I think deep down you knew I was right! Lila wasn't the girl for you! HA! Score one for me!" She fell back on his bed laughing her head off and holding her stomach.

Despite she was correct about the irony of that, he couldn't help but chuckle along with her. The entire dream was ironic, for sure. That was an interesting point Helga made, though. Maybe his dream really WAS trying to tell him that Lila was not the girl for him.

"You know, I think you're right." Arnold said, staring at his lap thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Helga recovered from laughing and sat up again. "About what?"

"I think I subconsciously knew all along that Lila wasn't the girl for me. I mean, look at our dysfunctional...relationship, if you can call it that. I guess all the signs were there, and yet I persisted, thinking I had a chance. Anyway..." He decided to drop the subject on his failed love life with Lila. Sure, he was well over it by now, but it still wasn't quite his favourite topic. "Where was I...oh yeah. I excused myself and went outside to go get some air. I guess I was in a bit of a daze, and then I heard a really familiar voice reciting poetry. But just as soon as I did, I tripped and fell over someone sitting on the sidewalk, which turned out to be the one reciting poetry. Something about the moon and guiding her to her one true love. Well anyway, when I sat up and saw who I had fallen over..."

A light blush came to his cheeks and a bit of a goofy smile crossed his features. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and off Helga's curious and confused stare, he continued.

"It was a girl, named Hilda. And she...well, looked and sounded like you. She was the opposite you..."

"Antithesis, that's a better word." Helga told him, having been jealous for a split second, and then quite surprised, and still confused. "So wait, she was bland, uninspired and depressed?"

"Huh?" Arnold looked at her in confusion. "O-Oh! No, no! She actually...was... she acted the way you did when you weren't a bully. You know, really nice and sweet, reciting poetry...." The goofy smile came back to his face and he shook his head to clear himself. "And I...I...well...um..."

"You what? Come on, tell me!"

"I ended up actually liking her. You know, I liked her liked her, a lot." Arnold burst, and his eyes widened.

"Ah. So you fell in love with the...well, other me." Helga smirked. She was loving every moment of this. "What you're saying is, your subconscious was telling you that I was the perfect girl for you..."

Arnold's eyes widened again and he blushed considerably. "I-I...well...I guess that makes sense... But, um, thing is, she liked Arnie."

"WHAT?!" Helga nearly fell off his bed, taken aback. Her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth was agape. "You're kidding me!"

Despite the situation, he couldn't help but laugh heartily. He laughed so hard that he grasped his sides, shaking all over as he tried to calm himself down with no success. He didn't mean to laugh at it all, but the irony of it all was too much!

"Stop laughing!" Helga yelled, reaching over him to grab his pillow and smacking him with it. "It's not funny! I mean...come ON! Did Hilda really have THAT bad taste?! Come on! ARNIE?! Why him!?"

"S-Sorry...Helga....!" Arnold continued to laugh hard. "It's just...i-ironic..."

"Ironic!? This is freaking science fiction! I feel like you actually just watched an episode of _The Twilight Zone_!"

Taking a few breaths, Arnold finally calmed himself down, and tried to keep his mind on things that weren't funny, most specifically keeping his mind off all the irony of the dream and real life.

"I-I guess so...it's all part of the irony, I guess." Arnold said. "Anyway, so I offered Hilda candy while we were in the theater, and then she went to go sit with Arnie. Then all four of us went for a hay ride, which was kind of cool. I gave Hilda a daisy, but she gave it to Arnie. Lulu then accidentally-on-purpose fell asleep on me. Then I noticed Hilda had straw in her hair and I offered to get it out for her, but she refused and went to let Arnie do it instead." At Helga's baffled expression, he rolled his eyes good naturedly. "YES, I was actually trying to snuggle close to Hilda while using the 'Let me get the straw our of your hair' trick."

Helga snickered. "I guess that negates the illusion that you're a pure goody-two-shoes, Arnold. Ha! I knew there had to be some aspects of being a boy in you!"

"Hey, come on." Arnold rolled his eyes again. "Well, anyway, after that I went with Hilda into the cornfield. I was really nervous because I really liked her, but I wasn't sure how she felt about me. So then she said she'd never had this much fun with a guy before. I thought she meant me, so I just told her that I really liked her a lot, and...well..." A sad look came to his face and looked down at his lap again. "She said was talking about Arnie. Because he was interesting, likable and attractive. And then after, all the opposite-"

"Antithesis."

"Right, antithesis versions of everyone came into the field where I was, as Arnie was accusing me of stealing Lulu, which wasn't true at all. They were all chanting 'Fight fight fight' over and over again, and then it just all became a big nightmare freakshow. Then I woke up, and then...well, came to Gerald Field later on, and you know the rest." He gave a sheepish smile, blushing a little.

Helga took it all in, silent for a few moments as she let the dream sink in. She had to admit, it was pretty crazy, and just screamed pure irony. While she was mad at herself, or Hilda rather, for even DARING not to like Arnold, she also was relieved to see how it all turned out, because as he told her the story of the dream, it made more and more sense as to why he had hugged her that morning, and had backed away from Lila in horror. It was strange, and yet, it all seemed to make a lot of sense.

Maybe it was just the love talking, but by the looks of it, the dream was indeed his subconscious trying to tell him that Lila was not the girl for him, so it portrayed her in a way that Arnold didn't like her. Then with Hilda, she was the Helga he really liked and he fell in love with her right on the spot, which was his deep mind telling him SHE was perfect for him. YES! How delicious this was....oh yes.

"Well, I gotta say, not bad for a first dream about me." Helga said, and smirked at him, inching closer to him on his bed. "I see what it was trying to tell you... but I'll leave you to figure that out, football head. It's pretty obvious."

Arnold opened his mouth to protest, but sighed, deciding not to argue. Oh well. Maybe they could argue about something else. "Whatever you say, Helga."

"Now, that was dream one. Care to fill me in on dream two?" Her eyes gleamed with mischief and she licked her lips unconsciously.

Catching this action, Arnold looked away immediately and rubbed the back of his neck again. "Um...well, I don't know if you'll really like this one. At least, not until the end...I guess. Um, in this dream...I...uh...dreamed that we were married."

Helga balked at this, her eyes widened to the size of blue, white and black dinner plates. Married?! Her number one dream besides getting Arnold's love, traveling the world with him, getting a perfume named after them, having a family and living an awesome life together? Married?

Married?!

But what did he mean she wouldn't like it? Uh-oh.

"What do you mean...I won't like it?" Her scowl returned, suspicious. "All right, Arnoldo, explain."

Arnold realized he might have said something wrong, and held up his hands in defense. "Helga, I...it's not what you think. It happened a few months ago...you remember when Rhonda had her origami love calculator, right?"

"Yeah..." Helga's eyes narrowed in confusion, and then realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. "Wait a second! Football head, are you saying that..."

"Pretty much, that was what brought the dream on." Arnold admitted. "See, I took the test under Gerald's suggestion, thinking maybe I'd get Lila-" She scowled again at this and he patted her arm in assurance. "But I...ended up getting you. I tried it again, and got you again. I tried it a few more times, and got you again each time. ...Okay, more than a few times. Okay, several times. .....One hundred and ten times."

Despite she secretly knew, and was NOT about to tell him that, Helga burst out laughing, holding her stomach as she once again fell over in a heap on his bed, the true sounds of genuine laughter escaping her. Still embarassed, he stared at her for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should grab his pillow, which was now laying between them, and hit her with it playfully as she had done to him.

But before he could ponder that further, he found himself snickering. It then grew into chuckles, and before long, he was laughing heartily along with her, holding his heaving stomach and pounding his fist against the pillow as he laughed so hard that tears fell from his eyes. Laughter was undoubtedly contagious, and most especially, he admitted, when Helga laughed. It was always something he enjoyed hearing, Helga laughing heartily, more so now that he was falling in love with her like he was.

The two of them finally stopped laughing, now panting and taking hard breaths like they had just run a marathon...or taking lessons from Brainy.

"So...you tried one hundred and ten times, and got ME every time?!" Helga said, and laughed again, but didn't fall into hysterics. "Criminy, the Gods of Irony must have had a field day with that one!"

"No kidding." Arnold recalled, and couldn't help but smile a little. "So after that little fiasco, I went home, feeling really weird about it all and convinced myself that us being married wasn't going to work."

"Thinking of that differently now, football head?" Helga batted her eyelashes flirtatiously, her tone suggestive.

Arnold's eyes widened at her sudden forwardness and blushed considerably, having not thought much on it since then, especially now. His point did still stand that he knew it wouldn't be so bad being married to her, but now that he was falling in love? Was it more appealing?

He couldn't quite say.

"Um...well...I..."

"Arnoldo, relax, I'm just kidding." Helga snickered, poking him in the stomach. "Now go and tell me your married dream."

"Okay." Arnold said, and looked up at his skylight. "Well, so I dream that I'm in this church, apparently getting married. I was pretty confused, since I was only nine even if I was really twenty-five in the dream. Gerald was my best man, and then the bride came in. I thought it was Lila, but no, it was-"

"No such luck. It was me!" Helga finished for him, smirking.

Arnold snickered. "Yeah, it was. Well, you can imagine how I was feeling back then about it. You tricked me into marrying you by pulling a Rabbit Season/Duck Season on me, and then you kissed me." He blushed again. "I was pretty scared and upset by it all. Then we moved into your house with your parents, and you..." Despite the memory, he snickered now. "YOU were carrying ME across the threshold!"

Letting that sink in, Helga laughed again. Sure, she wanted HIM to carry HER across the threshold when they got married one day, since that was the romantic thing to do, but at the same time, she could see herself doing it the other way around. That would have been pretty hilarious, and make you wonder who was really wearing the pants in the relationship.

"Well! I guess you could see that I like to be the dominant one in this...well, crazy relationship we have." She winked at him, and laughed at his reaction.

"Er, right...yeah... So then we're having dinner with your parents, and Mr. Pataki for some reason is wearing a King's crown and a regal cape."

Helga snickered loudly, her shoulders trembling. "Dude! You got my dad in there perfectly!"

"No kidding." Arnold agreed, looking a bit upset then. "He and your mom were just like they were in real life." He shook his head then, deciding not to think about it.

She smiled a little, touched by his concern and empathy for how she felt about her parents.

"Anyway," Arnold went on. "Your dad made me work at the Beeper Emporium on the loading dock, while you would sit around the house and do nothing."

"Sheesh! Some life that is!" Helga muttered. "I have dreams too, ya know!"

Arnold smiled at that, and then went on. "It was terrible, and I hated that job. Then I came home, and the stork brought us three kids. And I had to take care of them while you left to go to the movies. This went on for a while, and then eventually I came home and put my foot down, in a matter of speaking. I wasn't going to take it anymore, and then I...um...I kind of grabbed you and was demanding why you always acted like you did, and that I knew deep down that you were a good person and had feelings. You kept denying it, but I persisted, and then eventually you conceded and said...wow, I can't believe I still remember. You said '_Okay, okay, you're right. I can't hide it anymore. You've seen through my tough, blustery exterior and into my soft, mushy good-hearted center. It's true I'm not this bad. I guess I was just afraid to show my real feelings. But you knew it all along, didn't you? I may be rough around the edges, but deep down I'm a good person and I don't hate you. In fact, I sort of like you. I mean, actually, I sort of…more than like you. I…I really like you. I really, really like you. And, well…I like you so much that you might say that I actually lo…that I actually love..._', and then my alarm clock went off."

"Okay whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA, back up!" Helga waved her hands. "Did I REALLY say that? Or was that just you with your constant speeches on how I'm an oh-so good person deep down?"

"I'm not kidding, Helga. You really said that." Arnold admitted, looking away. "I-I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable."

The blonde girl snorted. As much as she even now didn't want to admit it, he was, once again, completely right about her. Why, oh, why, did even his DREAMS have to hit her so close to home?

_Doi, it's obvious!_ She thought. _He's seen that side of you enough to know, and especially now that he's in love with you. Yeeeesh! Talk about accurate._

"Whatever, football head. I guess it's not your fault. We can't really help what we dream about, right? Heh heh heh...." Helga said, trying to lighten the mood. "Um, so! That's dream number two. Now how's about you tell me about ol' dream number three?"

"Um, okay...well, this one was the most recent one that happened on Saturday night after you tutored me the first time." Arnold admitted with a light blush. "It was pretty weird, I'll try to explain it."

"I guess your dreams of me and weirdness go hand in hand, football head." Helga smirked.

Arnold laughed a little. "I guess you're right."

He explained his dream to her, about how he went from seeing Ruth to Lila, Lila to her, and then it all mixed up and became a mix of all three of them, telling her the dream (to an extent) as best as he could. It was weird, and it was hard to tell since he was leaving a thing or two out.

Helga was pretty intrigued, and found it to undoubtedly be the strangest of them all, for sure. Oh well, dreams didn't always matter, right? It was the outcomes of real life that mattered! She didn't need to worry about Ruth or Lila, and most especially those other girls. Nope. She had him, hook line and sinker, whether or not he cared to say so in the way that he loved her too.

_He will eventually...he knows he does._ Helga thought with a smirk.

Arnold's eyes then fell to the locket sitting near Helga, which she had shown him when she first came in and asked that he was dreaming about her. He gently picked it up, and could feel Helga's eyes on him as he did so. Still, he smiled a little and studied the locket. Right there in the heart-shaped frame was a photo of himself staring back with a sweet, half-lidded smile. Inside, under where his poem to her lay, was a simple inscription:

_**Arnold my soul, you are always in my heart.**_

_**Love, Helga G. Pataki**_

"Yeah, I know, it's nothing like my poems or anything." Helga then said, noting that he'd read the inscription inside. "But do understand I only had limited space when I got that thing made."

"No no, Helga, it's really sweet." Arnold said, and smiled up at her. "I guess...I don't know, it's a really interesting shift from what I'm used to in your poems and all. Don't get me wrong, you write beautiful poetry and I think they're really sweet, I really like them. But you know, it's kind of nice to see something short and direct, but still really sweet at the same time."

"O-Oh..." Helga realized, and blushed a bit more. "W-Well...thanks, football head...I guess that makes sense."

Arnold smiled more and then looked back at the little inscription written in the locket. It was true, the little message was direct, honest, and above all, very sweet. It was an interesting change from her romantic poems, to see something conveying the truth of how she felt, yet it was short and direct. He liked it. He liked the different ways she could express her love, it was...interesting.

"You carried this around with you all the time, didn't you?"

"I still do, doi." Helga batted his head lightly. "Well, yeah. What's your point?"

"No point." Arnold said, shaking his head. "I just think it's sweet."

Helga blushed, tugging at her collar a little. "W-Well...you know, I wanted to have SOMETHING of you close to my heart, doi!"

Arnold chuckled and gently placed the locket back on the bed. That was when his eyes caught sight of her math book sitting further back on the bed near his shelves. It was sitting among the other little pink books of poetry she had brought with her. Puzzled, he looked at her then.

"What's with your math book?" He asked, pointing at it.

"Huh?" Helga blinked, and looked back to where he was pointing. "Oh!" She only just remembered it now, after having been so caught up in his stories of his dreams and the locket itself. "Oh...um...well, I uh...you know how I said that I...well, you know...make little shrines to you?"

Nervousness and anxiety was eating up at her gut as she realized just what she was doing right now. Sure, she wasn't showing her actual closet shrine, which she was NOT ready for just yet, but it was still a little shrine in devotion to him. And she was about to reveal it to the very subject of her said shrine! It was times like this she just accused herself of being such a basket case. Still, something inside told her to just come clean about the "textbook" shrine she'd made, since she did mention having made shrines to him.

Maybe it was about time to let the cat out of the bag. Maybe it was about time to come clean and honest about some things. It wasn't going to be easy, and she was not looking forward to his horrible reaction. Helga tensed more, and then grabbed the math book, shoving it into his hands, and then scooted down further on his bed up against his shelf, her knees drawn to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. With a hand over her eye, she explained it to him as he opened the book and looked down into the hollow space containing a little football-headed figure inside it.

"I pretty much just collected random items and put them together to make a little shrine monument to you. Something more tangible than your picture to look at and talk to when you're not around, okay?" Her voice was dull and quiet, not at all like her. She was definitely mortified of this whole thing.

Arnold listened to her simple explanation, though he could see it must not have been easy for her, as he glanced from her and then down at the little shrine in her math book. He was honestly very surprised and not having quite expected something like this from her, until she mentioned it last weekend. Now seeing it, it was something.

Looking at her again, he could see she was still scared, probably expecting a horrible reaction to the whole shrine. Did she really think he'd get that angry or horrible? Just for this? Sure, he did think the shrine was a bit odd, but he certainly didn't hate her for it. Not in the least. It was different, and it was just one of her ways of expressing her creativity, just as she did with her poems. No harm in that, it was just what she did. Plus, she pretty much kept them secret until now, and she wasn't hurting anyone.

At the same time, despite the oddity, he was kind of flattered. Not just by the shrine, which he had to admit was an interesting way to show her devotion to him, but also, that she came and told him the truth. That always took a lot of guts, he knew THAT by now, and he was proud of her for it. It was never easy to reveal a truth like this, but he was happy she came through to trust him enough.

Arnold closed the textbook and placed it aside, then scooted over to where Helga was sitting at the end of his bed and took her hand. He gave a gentle squeeze and then kissed the back of her hand.

"Thanks for telling the the truth, Helga. I know it probably wasn't easy for you, but I'm glad you told me the truth." He squeezed her hand again and offered a sweet smile.

Helga tensed for a moment, not having expected him to be so sweet like this. She looked at him then as he continued to hold her hand, having just moments ago felt his soft lips touch it.

Silence befell the two of them, and reality, as well as tension, was only beginning to set in for them.

They were finally alone, again. They were very close to each other, again. He was also holding her hand, after having kissed it. Needless to say, all of this coupled together was creating a rather... "tense" moment between them. Just like before back in the janitor's closet, and then again back last weekend at her house. Their close proximity, solitude, and contact, was getting to them.

Arnold's eyes met hers, and he was sure she felt it too. The tense feelings of all the things he could possibly do were running through his head, and Helga even lowered her knees to sit properly, her eyes never leaving his. Green met blue, and locked, as if in some kind of a trance.

A very tense trance.

The remedy of the situation was obvious, at least right now, and they both knew it. They went for it, without a single word. It was just a little understanding between them at this point.

It was perfect. They were alone, close together, and holding hands, what could be more perfect than to-

Their lips met, before either of them could think about it, their eyes closing and breaking their contact. The kiss was brief, but slow. Helga felt herself melting into a puddle as his perfect lips melded perfectly with hers, just as they always did, and wanted so much to kiss him with passion, all the while throwing herself on top of him. But she resisted it, the moment was too perfect for that now. He too, was feeling the inexplicable urge to do SOMETHING as he kissed her, whatever it was, but somehow, it just didn't seem right. At least, not right now. The urge was eating him alive, but he held it back. The fact they were finally sharing a kiss was enough.

At the same time, he knew by now that he loved it, almost as much as Helga did. No wonder, kissing someone you liked was a really great way of showing affection. No wonder Helga thought that just holding hands in the hallways and sitting together at lunch didn't cut it. That was more Gerald and Phoebe's department, since they were more subtle but still affectionate with each other.

For what seemed like an eternity, while in reality their kiss was brief, yet slow enough to enjoy it. They pulled apart, their half-lidded gazes meeting each other.

"...You okay?" Arnold finally asked, both out of concern and yet still a little dazed.

"H-Huh? Oh..." Helga realized what was happening and nodded. "Y-Yeah. Sure. Just fine."

Arnold gave her a sweet smile and squeezed her hand again before gently letting go and then scooting back a little to give her some space. Helga noted this and offered a little smile in return.

Her eyes then fell onto her other pink poetry books, and decided now was a good time to break the tension and go over some poems.

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way, I think you probably want what you're after now." Helga took one of her books and gave it to him. "Read 'em and weep, football head."

Chuckling, Arnold took the book and placed it on his lap, opening it up. "Whatever you say, Helga."

"Darn right, whatever I say." Helga smirked and scooted closer to sit next to him. "Now read it out loud, head boy, I'd sure looooooooooove to hear you speak those words." She said with sarcasm, with a tint of wit.

Arnold rolled his eyes good naturedly, but took up her challenge eagerly. "Okay, here we go.

_When the moment comes that his eyes, oh those eyes, come to meet mine_

_However briefly, for I know that I cannot hold my stare_

_In fear that I will, oh my angel, fall under your spell_

_More so than I wish to, it would be too much to bear_

_Those eyes, oh dear Arnold, my love_

_How your eyes become such gentle pools of the shiniest emeralds_

_Will I ever, oh ever_

_Be able to look upon them forever?_

_All the days that pass_

_Under the sun and the moon_

_Will I forever be enslaved by your gaze?_

_Will I ever bestow my love upon you like high noon?_

_Arnold my love, look into my eyes_

_Do you see?_

_Just how much I truly love you? _

_Arnold my angel, look into my eyes, you will see the true me_." He blinked a little, but smiled more and turned the page.

They exchanged glances, and brushed their shoulders and arms against each other in an act of contact, before she then read the next poem aloud.

"_Arnold, oh Arnold_

_Angel of my heart_

_Epitome of my soul_

_One day, my love, I will play my part_

_How I long dearly for your lips upon mine_

_While I must go through dangers and trials_

_All to simply touch your mouth my own_

_It is a brave battle, but it will come in time, for then on we shall shine_."

He shot her a knowing glance. "I wonder if that that had anything to do with the play several months ago?"

Helga blushed a little, looking away furiously. "You may be on the right track, football head."

Arnold smiled and then they went on to read the next poem.

For a while, they were so lost in reading them all, and in each other, that they were quite startled when the phone rang.

--

**And that is when the second epilogue of the story starts! XD And now soon, we will cut to them at Slausen's together. :D**

**Oh, and having Arnold telling Helga about his dreams, at least the first two, yeah, I felt a wave of nostalgia that went back to when I was writing them for "Arnold's Leg". Ah, the memories...**

**So enjoy, and stay tuned for part two. :)**


End file.
